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The Wolf of Snow Hollow

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The Wolf of Snow Hollow
The Wolf of Snow Hollow
Official promotional poster
Directed byJim Cummings
Starring
CinematographyNatalie Kingston
Edited by
  • Patrick Nelson Barnes
  • R. Brett Thomas
Music byBen Lovett
Production
companies
Distributed byUnited Artists Releasing
Release date
  • October 9, 2020 (2020-10-09) (United States)
Running time
84 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$2 million [1]
Box office$266,963 [2][3]

The Wolf of Snow Hollow is a 2020 American comedy horror film about a small Utah town that is seemingly terrorized by a werewolf. It was written and directed by Jim Cummings who also stars along with Riki Lindhome, Chloe East, Jimmy Tatro, and Robert Forster. The film is dedicated to Forster, as it was the last of his career, completed shortly before his death.[4]

It was released in limited theaters and on VOD in the United States on October 9, 2020 by United Artists Releasing.[5]

Plot

PJ Palfrey and his girlfriend Brianne vacation in Snow Hollow, Utah. PJ gets into a verbal altercation with two local hunters who used a homophobic slur. Returning to their rental lodging, they both enjoy the hot tub before PJ heads back inside to shower. Brianne hears a growl. PJ discovers her mangled body, with a paw print in the snow.

John Marshall, a sheriff deputy with anger management issues, is attending a sobriety program. Later his ex-wife Brittany is berates him for not being there to support their daughter Jenna, when John is called to the murder scene. His father, Sheriff Hadley, and fellow officer Julia have discovered that some of Brianne's body parts are missing. Sheriff Hadley worries about having another heart attack. Julia finds the two hunters, who describe PJ as very rude and confrontational. News begins to circulate around the town about a possible "wolfman" among them, and paranoia begins to spread amongst the townsfolk and cops alike. John is adamant that the killing was done by a man not a wolf.

A ski instructor is killed by a wolfman. Rumors about a killer werewolf spread, much to John's annoyance. He gets into a physical altercation with a fellow officer after the latter lets slip to the local press that the killer could be a wolf. Under stress, John begins drinking again.

While John and Julia drive to work the next morning, someone throws a beer bottle at Julia's car. Meanwhile, a suspicious man alone in his RV is using heroin. John and Julia again question PJ who tells them that he has nothing new to report.

Paranoid tips from all over the community roll in. Liz Fairchild has a strange encounter with a tall man at a diner. John discovers that Hadley has suffered from another heart murmur, and urges him to seek medical treatment. They argue, with John declaring that Hadley should work from home. Hadley refuses to go for treatment. Later that night Liz is killed by the wolfman.

John becomes increasingly agitated and angry, at one point getting into another fight with the coroner after the latter declares that he's doing a bad job. The suspicious man from earlier burns a corpse. He has a wolf tattoo on his arm.

John combs through the town's records in order to determine whether or not the killer has had any personal relationships with the victims, and looks up some werewolf history and lore. After investigating Liz's workplace, they discover that the man Liz had previously encountered at the restaurant called her workplace asking for her. A curfew is imposed and an active watch for the creature is begun. After suffering another heart murmur Hadley agrees to retire and seek treatment at John's urging.

Jenna sneaks away in the middle of the night to see her boyfriend. They are attacked by the werewolf. John is called over and shoots at the creature but it escapes, killing an officer while Jenna suffers a minor head wound. When John yells at Jenna for breaking curfew, Jenna declares that his lack of care is the reason why she is going away for college. After visiting both Jenna and Hadley in the hospital, John breaks into Jenna's boyfriend's house and attacks him. Meanwhile, Hadley passes away from heart complications at the hospital.

Grieving for his father and frustrated with the case, he is banned from his program meetings. Meanwhile the suspicious man dies from a heroin overdose, with a wolf by him.

His body is found and the police deduce he was the killer due to his tattoo, his odd knife collection, his location from the original crime scene, his height, and the discovery of the dead body from the woodpile buried in his backyard, which turns out to be that of a missing woman. When the coroner insults John's intelligence and threatens to tell the press about his difficulties in finding the murderer, John deduces that the coroner was responsible for the vandalization of Julia's car, and fires him.

Julia gets a call from PJ about a needle that they had supposedly left at his mother's house. Realizing that the needle in question is used for taxidermy, Julia surmises that the only taxidermist in the town is Paul Carnury. While distributing evidence back to their original owners, John stops by Paul's house. Paul declares that he doesn't have a wife after John asks him if she was away for the weekend, contrary to his previous claims. He asks John about his daughter, something he couldn't have known unless he was present at the night of Jenna's attack. Deducing this as he walks out the door, John returns and asks Paul to stand up to his actual height, revealing himself to be well over 6 feet tall and slams the door on him. John breaks into the house, discovering his workstation and Hannah's head. John is stabbed in the stomach by Paul. Hearing sirens outside, Paul runs. Paul changes into a taxidermied wolf costume, unleashes an animalistic growl and disappears into the woods, with John following. John is beaten by Paul, but Julia shoots Paul. John gets up and shoots Paul repeatedly in the head and collapses.

Jenna moves into college with Julia and John's help. Julia's been appointed as the new sheriff of Snow Hollow and John's recovered. John gifts Jenna condoms and a gun for protection. As he walks out of the dorm he passes two men sexualizing the women in the dorm rooms. John stops for a moment, before walking away.

Cast

Production

Filming took place in Kamas, Utah in March 2019. Producer Matt Miller had known Robert Forster from a previous project, and sent the script to his agent. Director Jim Cummings said they "expected a polite 'no'" but Forster chose to take the role because he viewed it as "a dramatic movie about a father-son relationship, and complications of aging and health."[11]

Release

In September 2020, Orion Classics acquired distribution rights to the film.[4][12][13]

The film was released in limited theaters on October 9, 2020 by United Artists Releasing[14][15][16] and on video-on-demand the same day.[17][18][19][20]

Reception

Box office

In its opening weekend the film grossed $91,943 from 112 theaters.[21]

Critical response

On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes the film holds an approval rating of 89% based on 74 reviews, with an average rating of 7.3/10. The website's critics' consensus reads: "The Wolf of Snow Hollow treads somewhat unsteadily between horror and comedy, but writer-director-star Jim Cummings' unique sensibilities make for an oddly haunting hybrid."[22] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 67 out of 100 based on 13 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[23]

John DeFore of The Hollywood Reporter gave the film a positive review and wrote, "Satisfying enough as a horror/slasher flick with a black-comedy aftertaste, it has some commercial appeal but doesn't represent a step forward artistically."[24] Brian Tallerico of RogerEbert.com awarded the film three-and-a-half out of four stars and wrote: "The snow-covered setting and bumbling cops, along with Cummings' deadpan sense of humor, have led to comparisons to the Coen brothers and there is a sense of 'Fargo meets Silver Bullet' in some of The Wolf of Snow Hollow, but it’s not like Cummings wears his influences as obviously as some genre filmmakers."[25]

Peter Debruge of Variety wrote: "Wolf actually does that thing we all hope second features won't: It reveals that idiosyncrasies of an unproven director's debut weren't quirks so much as weaknesses — a disappointment for those of us hoping lightning might strike twice for the Thunder Road helmer."[26]

Grant Hermanns of Comingsoon.net gave the film a 9.5 out of 10.[8] Chuck Bowen of Slant Magazine awarded the film three stars out of four.[27] Ignatiy Vishnevetsky of The A.V. Club graded the film a B.[28] Don Kaye of Den of Geek awarded the film two and a half stars out of five.[29] Vinnie Mancuso of Collider graded the film an A−.[30] Meagan Navarro of Bloody Disgusting awarded the film three skulls out of five.[31] JimmyO of JoBlo.com gave the film a 9 out of 10.[32]

References

  1. ^ "Jim Cummings Talks 'The Wolf Of Snow Hollow' And Making Movie Magic On A Budget". Forbes. October 7, 2020. Retrieved October 19, 2020.
  2. ^ "The Wolf of Snow Hollow (2020)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved October 31, 2020.
  3. ^ "The Wolf of Snow Hollow (2020)". The Numbers. Retrieved October 31, 2020.
  4. ^ a b D'Alessandro, Anthony (September 4, 2020). "Orion Classics Acquires 'The Wolf Of Snow Hollow' Starring Riki Lindhome And Robert Forster In His Final Film Role". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved September 25, 2020.
  5. ^ "The Wolf Of Snow Hollow: Release Date, Trailer, and More! by Shreya". November 8, 2020. Retrieved March 19, 2021.
  6. ^ Serrao, Nivea (September 18, 2020). "WIRE BUZZ: THE WOLF OF SNOW HOLLOW TRAILER; SONY MOVES CONNECTED; MCKENNA GRACE JOINS THE HANDMAID'S TALE". Syfy Wire. Retrieved September 25, 2020.
  7. ^ Mancuso, Vinnie (September 17, 2020). "'The Wolf of Snow Hollow' Trailer Sees Robert Forster Hunting a Werwolf in His Final Film Role". Collider. Retrieved September 25, 2020.
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i Hermanns, Grant (October 3, 2020). "[Beyond Fest] The Wolf of Snow Hollow Review: Subversive, Offbeat & Quietly Thrilling". Comingsoon.net. Retrieved October 9, 2020.
  9. ^ a b Scott, Ryan (September 17, 2020). "The Wolf of Snow Hollow Trailer Has Robert Forster Battling a Werewolf in His Final Movie". MovieWeb. Retrieved September 25, 2020.
  10. ^ Rubin, Rebecca (September 17, 2020). "Jim Cummings' Thriller 'The Wolf of Snow Hollow' Debuts First Trailer". Variety. Retrieved September 25, 2020.
  11. ^ P. Means, Sean (October 9, 2020). "For director of 'Wolf of Snow Hollow,' filming a werewolf movie in Utah was like 'winter summer camp'". The Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved October 20, 2020.
  12. ^ Squires, John (September 4, 2020). "Orion Classics Picks Up 'The Wolf of Snow Hollow' for October Release in Theaters and At Home". Bloody Disgusting. Retrieved September 25, 2020.
  13. ^ Hough, Q.V. (September 24, 2020). "Everything We Know About The Wolf Of Snow Hollow". Screen Rant. Retrieved September 25, 2020.
  14. ^ Millican, Josh (September 17, 2020). "Trailer: Werewolf Horror THE WOLF OF SNOW HOLLOW Arrives October 9th". Dread Central. Retrieved September 25, 2020.
  15. ^ Kurp, Josh (September 17, 2020). "There's A Werewolf (Or A Serial Killer?) On The Prowl In The Chilly 'The Wolf Of Snow Hollow' Trailer". Uproxx. Retrieved September 25, 2020.
  16. ^ Vorel, Jim (September 17, 2020). "There's a Beast on the Loose in the First Trailer for Jim Cummings' The Wolf of Snow Hollow". Paste. Retrieved September 25, 2020.
  17. ^ Seddon, Dan (September 18, 2020). "First look at Robert Forster's final movie role in werewolf horror-thriller". Digital Spy. Retrieved September 25, 2020.
  18. ^ Hamman, Cody (September 17, 2020). "TRAILER! WEREWOLF THRILLER THE WOLF OF SNOW HOLLOW COMING IN OCTOBER". JoBlo.com. Retrieved September 25, 2020.
  19. ^ Crow, David (September 17, 2020). "Werewolf Prowls in The Wolf of Snow Hollow Trailer". Den of Geek. Retrieved September 25, 2020.
  20. ^ Collis, Clark (September 17, 2020). "Devour the trailer for horror-thriller The Wolf of Snow Hollow". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved September 25, 2020.
  21. ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (October 11, 2020). "'War With Grandpa', 'Hocus Pocus' & 'Coco' Leaving Footprint With Families At Weekend Box Office". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved October 11, 2020.
  22. ^ "The Wolf of Snow Hollow (2020)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango. Retrieved October 10, 2021.
  23. ^ "The Wolf of Snow Hallow Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved November 2, 2020.
  24. ^ DeFore, John (October 7, 2020). "'The Wolf of Snow Hollow': Film Review; Fantastic Fest 2020". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved October 9, 2020.
  25. ^ Tallerico, Brian (October 9, 2020). "The Wolf of Snow Hollow". RogerEbert.com. Retrieved October 9, 2020.
  26. ^ Debruge, Peter (October 6, 2020). "'The Wolf of Snow Hollow' Review: Robert Forster's Last Film Awkwardly Faces the Monster Within". Variety. Retrieved October 9, 2020.
  27. ^ Bowen, Chuck (October 5, 2020). "Review: The Wolf of Snow Hollow Is a Swan Song Worthy of Robert Forster". Slant Magazine. Retrieved October 9, 2020.
  28. ^ Vishnevetsky, Ignatiy. "Jim Cummings' inspired werewolf movie The Wolf Of Snow Hollow has way more laughs than scares". The A.V. Club. Retrieved October 9, 2020.
  29. ^ Kaye, Don (October 7, 2020). "The Wolf of Snow Hollow Review: A Quirky Werewolf Movie". Den of Geek. Retrieved October 9, 2020.
  30. ^ Mancuso, Vinnie (October 7, 2020). "'The Wolf of Snow Hollow' Review: Genre-Defying Werewolf Tale Is Like a Coens Creature Feature". Collider. Retrieved October 9, 2020.
  31. ^ Navarro, Meagan (October 7, 2020). "[Review] 'The Wolf of Snow Hollow' Is a Darkly Fun Werewolf Whodunit". Bloody Disgusting. Retrieved October 9, 2020.
  32. ^ JimmyO (October 8, 2020). "JIM CUMMINGS' THE WOLF OF SNOW HOLLOW (REVIEW)". JoBlo.com. Retrieved October 9, 2020.
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